Staff
Executive Director
Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia
Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia, the Executive Director of Religions for Peace USA, has been a dedicated interfaith servant-leader for over two decades. His leadership roles include a 12-year tenure on the Board of Trustees of Parliament of the World’s Religions, board membership in the North American Interfaith Network, and founding trustee status at the Sikh Council for Interfaith Relations. He also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Global Sikh Council and the boards of Faith in Public Life, National Museum of American Religions, Interfaith Association of Central Ohio, and Sikh Educational and Religious Foundation. His past roles include advisory board membership at the Journal of Interreligious Studies and service on the boards of the National Religious Coalition Against Torture and the World Sikh Council – America Region. His contributions to interfaith dialogue and cooperation have been significant.
In 2014, Dr. Butalia’s exceptional leadership was recognized with the Outstanding Leadership Recognition Award from Religion for Peace USA, marking the end of his 6-year term as the organization’s Moderator. His contributions were further acknowledged in 2016 when he was honored with the Luminosa Award for Unity by the Focolare Movement of the global Roman Catholic Church. In 2020, the National Council of Churches in the USA presented him with the prestigious Gwynne Guibord Award for Excellence in Interreligious Leadership. His work has also been celebrated with the Social Justice Award from the Islamic Circle of North America (2023) and the Divine Pathways Interfaith Award from the United Church of Christ (2023).
In June of 2005, Dr. Butalia was a key participant in the Critical Moment in Interreligious Dialogue conference organized by the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland. His role as a moderator in a session and discussion on dialogue and action was instrumental. In January 2006, he played a pivotal role in organizing the first US National Gathering of Religious Leaders in Chicago presented by Religions for Peace USA, and shared his perspectives on the role of religious leaders in the 21st century. His global engagement continued with his participation in the VIIIth World Assembly of Religions for Peace held in Kyoto, Japan on the theme Confronting Violence and Advancing Shared Security, the IXth World Assembly of Religions for Peace held in Vienna, Austria in 2013, and the Xth World Assembly of Religions for Peace held in Lindau, Germany in 2019.
He has helped initiate and facilitates the Catholic-Sikh National Consultation between the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and the Sikh Council for Interfaith Relations. In October 2011, he represented the worldwide Sikh Faith community at the 25th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace hosted by Pope Benedict XVI at the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Italy. His interfaith efforts have been showcased nationally on the Hallmark Channel and he writes regularly for Religion News Service.
At the state level, he was a member of the Religious Experience Advisory Council of the Ohio Bicentennial Commission and works closely with the Ohio Council of Churches. He received a Commendation from the Ohio House of Representatives in 1992. He received the Interreligious Community Award in June of 2004 from the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Locally, he has worked with the Interfaith Association for Central Ohio for over 30 years. He has served on the governing boards of the Interfaith Center for Peace and is co-convener of Faith Communities Uniting for Peace and the OSU Interfaith Council. He was a 2008 recipient of the Faculty Diversity Award by the Multicultural Center at The Ohio State University. In May 2004, he received the inaugural Living Faith Interfaith Award from the Columbus Metropolitan Area Church Council.
He is co-editor of the landmark Ohio Bicentennial book Religion in Ohio: Profiles of Faith Communities. In 2021, he published My Journey Home: Going Back to Lehnda Punjab, based on a visit to his ancestral home in Pakistan more than 70 years after his grandparents left it in 1947.
